This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Speaking on talkSPORT, Simon Jordan has insisted Manchester United shouldn’t get carried away by their recent victories over Tottenham and Manchester City.
What did he say?
Reports in recent weeks had suggested Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is fighting for his job at Old Trafford, but the Norwegian saw the pressure eased on his future somewhat by their two impressive wins against their fellow big-six rivals in the Premier League.
However, Jordan admitted that he is still “unconvinced” by the former Cardiff boss, but praised him for beginning to eke out performances more befitting of a United side.
He said: “People are jumping on the bandwagon of all of a sudden United are doing well because they’ve beaten Tottenham and Man City. I remain unconvinced. I think form is temporary, class is permanent and I don’t think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the class to be Man United manager.
“I think he’s getting more backbone and I think he’s getting more rhetoric that is becoming of a Manchester United manager. He’s developing more confidence and is clearly being backed by the board. I get the feeling there’s an element of being galvanised in that they know they get a lot of criticism, they know Solskjaer is getting a lot of observations made about him and the players are obviously responding to him.”
Time will tell
Since coming into the job last December, Solskjaer has masterminded some fine victories against the big sides in both the Premier League and the Champions League – their wins against the likes of Chelsea and PSG this calendar year for example are particularly notable.
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But they have fallen to some of the lesser lights in the top-flight, with this season even seeing them go down to the likes of Crystal Palace and Newcastle. Against teams that haven’t come out toe-to-toe with them, they have struggled to pull off wins that many would take for granted. So whilst their results against Spurs and City are deserving of praise, judgement should be reserved until they go through some of the more ‘easier’ fixtures on their schedule coming up.
Meanwhile, Manchester United fans have hailed this ace for his monstrous display against Manchester City.
